Museum showcases NZ film phenomenon

OU can't think about New Zealand these days without focusing on the groundbreaking films and television series that have been made there.

Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Heavenly Creatures, Master and Commander, I Robot, Van Helsing, The Last Samurai, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Legend of Zorro - the list goes on and on.

Now, The Hobbit directed by Guillermo del Toro, is in pre-production and Jonathan King's (Black Sheep) Under The Mountain, James Cameron of Titanic fame's Avatar and Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones are due out later this year.

In fact, Wellington, known as the windy city - and its south-eastern suburb of Miramar in particular, where most of the filmmaking facilities are - have become known as Wellywood.

While Jackson is famous the world over, less so are the Weta companies, the brains behind the make-up, costumes and visual effects of so many of these films. Weta Workshop was started more than 20 years ago in the back room of the Wellington flat Richard Taylor shared with his partner Tania Rodger (Weta's workshop manager).

It's gone on to be a multi-Oscar-winning "conceptual design and physical manufacturing facility".

"It was our dream to create a special effects facility to support the New Zealand film and television industry and we have since had the most incredible journey pursuing this goal," Taylor said on the Weta website.

They started with projects such as the caricatured puppets for Gibson Group's Public Eye satire show before developing a close creative relationship with Jackson, working on his Meet the Feebles, Braindead, Forgotten Silver, Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners.

With Taylor, Rodger, Jackson and producer Jamie Selkirk as co-directors, the Weta companies have provided physical and digital effects for many films, advertisements and television shows including the Hercules and Xena series. Their crowning achievement was providing the design, fabrication and on-set operation of the creatures, special make-up effects and prosthetics, miniatures, armour and weaponry for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Weta Digital also provided the full range of digital services from compositing through to animation of fully computer-generated creatures.

"Tania and I are focused on the development of highly creative projects, and embracing the enthusiasm and passion that young New Zealanders can bring to the creative arts," Taylor said.